Railway cattle-guard



(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 1. E, 000K. RAILWAY CATTLE GUARD.

Patented Ja.11.8, 1895.

Inval-1to1?,

(No Model.)

No. 532,264. Patented Jam.- 8, 1895.

lnuantor,

Witn@ Unirse Aras PATENT Ormes,

EUGENE COOK, OF KALAMAZOO, lliflICI-IIGAN.

RAILWAY CATTLE-GUARD.

PEGI .ICATION forming part of Letters .Eatent No. 532,264, dated January 8, 1895. Application filed April 14, 17894. Serial No. 507.518. (No model.)

To all w'rwm t may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE COOK, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Kalamazoo, in the county of Kalamazoo and State of Michigan, have invented certain new, and useful Improvements in Railway Cattle- Guards, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in cattle guards, and more particularly to that tion, for use Where guard rails are joined in sets so that the guard rails can be easily detached separately and renewed as Y circumstances may require; second, to provide a surface cattleguard in sections which, While it is easily detachable, will not rattle; third, to

provide a means of attaching guard rails to a transverse support Without the use of thimbles or other collars and sleeves between the rails and yet have them hold securely, the object'in dispensing with the thimble or sleeve between the guard rails being to prevent accidents which frequently occur from dangling brake beams becoming entangled therewith; fourth, to provide an improved cattle guard in which the guard rails are grouped into sections or sets so that any part of the guard may be renewed upon the spot by an ordinary workman, without the necessity of removing the guard and sending it to the shops for repairs, with my improved guard it being possible (as will be readily seen) to remove a fastener and substitute a new one or to remove the guard rail and put in a new one, or remove the beam or any other part separately, should it become broken; fifth, to provide a cattle guard which shall be cheap in the first instance and comparatively inexpensive to keep in repair,- on account of the ease of renewing any injured or worn parts.

I accomplish the objects of my invention by the devices shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows a detail perspective View of my improved cattle guard partially1 in section n on line 1-1 of Fig. 2, only one guard rail being shown. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a 55 2. Fig. 4 is a detail view of one of the parts lettered D. Fig. 5 is an end elevation of Fig. 6o 4, and Figs.`6 and 7 arejdetail views of a slight modification of my invention.

Similar letters of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

A is the transverse support for the guard rails for holding the sets of the guard rails together. The guard is placed in the track by attaching this transverse support, A, to the ties'in any of the well known Ways now in common use in such devices. r 7o C represents the fasteners which are looped up over the top of the guard rails somewhatlike staples. At the bottom, the ends, C', of these fasteners are bent off laterally at right angles to the vertical portion, C. The upper portion engages 'the guard rails, B, in the manner shown in Fig l. Between each pair of guard rails and the .vertical portion ofthe fasteners, C, a strut or brace, D, is inserted. The fasteners at the end of each section are 8o bolted securely to the transverse support, A, and by crowding these braces, D, down between the fasteners, the bottoms of the fasteners are crowded very tight against the guard rails, B, which holds them very securely. 8 5

kThrough the center of these braces, D, and

through the beam below are inserted short, square-shanked bolts, E. When the braces, D, are crowded down, they are bolted securely, the brace, D, being drawn still tighter by the go bolt sothat the lateral portions, C', of each fastener are clamped by the braces very securely to the transverse support. The fasteners, C, being bent at right angles at the bottom and this brace, D, being put upon them and then bolted down they together brace and secure the guard rails, B, very securely in position. i

It will be seen upon examination of this device that to remove a guard rail all that will rco be required is to remove the nuts from each of the bolts, E, to one side of the guard rail to be removed and loosen the nuts on the opposite side when one of the braces, D, can be easily removed and the fastener withdrawn from under the braces, D, on the opposite side and the rail removed and repaired or renewed, as required. This facility in removing the guard rails and in renewing the fasteners, or any parts of the guard, makes itl possible to use in the construction very much lighter material than could be otherwise used, on ac-l count of the fact that it is so easy to remove the parts and put them in good condition.

The device is equally valuable where heavier material is used, on account of its great strength in holding the parts together; and even the heaviest material Will wear out and need to be repaired some time. i

Having thus described my improved cattle guard, I desire to say that it can be considerably varied in its construction without departing from my invention. By examining Figs. 6 and 7 it will be readily seen that spikes or rivets can be used in place of the bolts, E, but would be very difficult to remove; and where spikes are used, the guard rails might be attached to a wooden transverse -support such as the raised portion of a railway tie and they could possibly be used directly upon the ties themselves, but the construction I have shown is preferred by me for the reason that guards which can be handled in section are easy to remove when it shall be desired to add to the road bed or tamp the soil around the ties in the vicinity of the guards.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

1. In a railway cattle guard, the combination of the transverse support, A; thin, vertical guard rails, B; fasteners, C, similar to staples, looped over said guard rails with lateral projections, C', at the bottom at each side of the guard rails; braces, D; and the bolts, E, through said braces and the transverse supports, A, to clamp them together to support the guard rails and brace them in position, substantially as described for the purpose specified.

2. In acattle guard, the combination of the transverse support, A; thin, vertical guard rails, B; fasteners, C, looped over said guard 5o rails with laterally projecting portions, C', at the bottom projecting to each side of said guard rails; and suitable means of attaching said portions, C', to the transverse support, A, substantially as described.

3. In a cattle guard, the combination with the guard rail, of a fastener, C, adapted to engage said guard rail and having lateral, horizontal projecting portions at eachfside of said guard rail, and means of attaching said lateral portions of the fasteners to the transverse support so that the guard rail shall be braced from both sides by the angular portions, for the purpose specified.

4. In a cattle guard, the combination of guard rails; fasteners adapted to engage each of said guard rails, with horizontal projecting portions at each side of said guard rails; and suitable means of attaching said horizontal portions to a transverse support, for the purpose specified.

5,. In a cattle guard, the combination with adjacent guard rails; of fasteners, C, adapted to engage said guard rails; a brace, D, between said guard rails adapted to crowd said fasteners tight against the guard rails and engage them; and suitable means of attaching saidbrace to the transverse support to hold and brace the fasteners and guard rails in position, for the purpose specified.

6. In a cattle guard, the combination with adjacent guard rails, of fasteners, C, adapted to engage said guard rails; and a brace, D, between said guard rails adapted to crowd said fasteners, for the purpose specified.

7. In a cattle guard, the combination with adjacent guard rails, of fasteners on said guard rails; a brace, D, adapted to engage said fasteners; and the bolt, E, to clamp said brace to the transverse support, for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal in the presence of two Witnesses.

EUGENE oooK. [1.. sj

Witnesses:

MARION LONGYEAR, JOHN W. ADAMs. 

